Panama Does Not Escape Counterfeit Medicines
Monday, August 10, 2009 16:01
Counterfeit medicines are not unique to any specific geographic location in the world, with two known cases having surfaced within the country of Panama; these two cases involved the Viagra drug, and the Panadol Multi symptoms drugs. These two examples are specific to the counterfeiting procedures, and not that of other illegal or erroneous drugs and drug information on the part of the sellers. The process of counterfeiting drugs, as confirmed by Panama’s Ministry of Health involves the actual pharmaceuticals and the manufacturing process itself, where stringent industry standards and safety protocols are not followed or completely disregarded. It has been found that even the labels contain fraudulent or even incorrect information; such is the blatancy of these counterfeit manufacturers. The actual product itself may at times be correctly manufactured, whilst at other times key ingredients may well be missing, and therefore places the user thereof at a disadvantage or even potential danger.
To this end the Department of Health is seeking lawmakers to review and revise specific legislation applicable to the counterfeiting of medication, inclusive of issues relevant to the sanitary code, which overlaps in the area of drug manufacturing. It is estimated that over $7 billion of counterfeiting medicines and drugs are manufactured and sold per year, as per the World Health Organization (WHO).
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